Year of the Dog
by Stelline
Summary: After being adopted by ThunderClan, Dogpaw, a young mutt, struggles with being different from the rest of his clanmates. Determined, Dogpaw will do anything to prove himself a loyal ThunderClan Warrior.
1. Allegiances

Allegiances

**Thunderclan**

Leader – Ravenstar, a sleek black tom with white paws and tail tip

Deputy – Lionclaw, a pale golden tabby tom

Medicine Cat – Snowstorm, a pretty white she-cat with blue eyes

**Warriors:**

Stormheart, a deep grey tabby tom with a torn ear

- Apprentice, Windpaw

Mudtail, a mottled brown tabby she-cat

- Apprentice, Dogpaw

Shrewnose, a golden-and-white tabby tom with a pointed face

Redpelt, a red tabby tom

- Apprentice, Birchpaw

Fernclaw, a calico she-cat with white patches

- Apprentice, Moonpaw

Blackwhisker, a solid black she-cat

Cloudfur, a pale grey tom

- Apprentice, Nightpaw

**Queens**

Whiteflower, a white she-cat with one green eye, one blue, deaf in one ear

Frostfoot, a pale grey she-cat with white paws

Ashcloud, a grey-and-black tabby she-cat

**Apprentices:**

Windpaw, a sleek pale grey tom with white patches

Moonpaw, a black she-cat with white paws, chest, and tail tip with ice blue eyes

Birchpaw, a white she-cat with dark brown tabby patches

Dogpaw, a light brown-red floppy-eared dog tom with white paws, chest, and tail tip (sheltie mix)

Nightpaw, a black tom with blue eyes

**Elders**

Twistedtail, a black and white tom with a crooked tail

Dapplenose, a golden tabby tom

Tigerstripe, a brown tabby she-cat

**RiverClan**

Leader -- Rainstar, a pale yellow and white tabby she-cat

Deputy – Specklefur, a calico she-cat

Medicine Cat – Silvertail, a pale grey tabby she-cat

**ShadowClan**

Leader – Mistystar, a grey she-cat

Deputy – Snowfoot, a black tom with white feet

Medicine Cat – Brokenfang, a brown tabby tom with a broken fang

**WindClan**

Leader – Redstar, a red tabby tom

Deputy – Gorsetail, a mottled brown tabby she-cat with white toes

Medicine Cat – Crowfur, a dark grey she-cat

_(If any of these names are the same as someone else's character or any of the original characters from the books, it is a complete coincidence.)_


	2. Prologue

Prologue

"Tell us a story, One-Eye!" begged a young cat, her ginger-and-white pelt blowing gently in the warm breeze of New-Leaf.

Her fluffy, white companion nodded, "Yeah, One-Eye, please? Brightpaw and I have nothing to do today."

The pale grey she-cat the two apprentices addressed lay with her paws tucked underneath her and her old tail hugging her body. As Brightpaw urged more, her tail twitched with irritation. The elderly feline wished the two apprentices were out on patrol or training in Sandy Hollow so she could get some sleep. "All right! I'll tell you two a story if you'll stop your whining already!" she snapped, although she really did enjoy telling stories for the younger cats.

Unfazed, Brightpaw chirped happily, "Oh yes! Thank you, One-Eye!" She nudged Cloudpaw, the fluffy apprentice sitting next to her, to say his thanks as well.

"Thank you, One-Eye," Cloudpaw responded, taking the hint, "Tell us one we've never heard before?"

The elder thought for a few minutes before her face brightened. She knew what story she would tell them. "All right, you two, sit your rumps down and get comfy. I'm going to tell you a story about a warrior who lived in Thunderclan many moons ago. He lived long before Bluestar was leader, long before she was even born. In fact my mother's mother was just a kit not even a moon old herself when this warrior came to Thunderclan. This warrior would become known as Dogstar."

"Dogstar?" Brightpaw chimed in. "That's a strange name."

"Yeah, why haven't I heard of him before?" Cloudpaw mewed.

Impatiently, One-Eye hissed, "Just shut up and listen!"


	3. Chapter 1

Chapter 1

It was a typical evening patrol that night. No scents of other Clan cats on their territory or anything else unusual, noted the deputy. It was a typical Leaf-Fall evening. The handsomely pale tabby led his patrol to the RiverClan border, figuring nothing out of the ordinary would be there as well. However, the tom was wrong. Near Sunning Rocks, he spotted something floating in the river.

"Lionclaw, what is that?" meowed one of his warriors.

The deputy shrugged, "I don't know, Mudtail. But I'd like to know." Lionclaw stalked forward where the thing bobbed up and down in the water. Powerful legs sprang the tom into the river and pushed him to it. Clenching onto it with his teeth, he struggled to swim back to his clanmates. He was no RiverClan cat; however, and with the weight of the unknown object, the task now proved much more difficult. Struggling to swim towards land, his claws fiercely dug into the pebbles below the water, desperately trying to keep him from being swept away. Finally, he was able to drag himself and whatever the thing was onto ThunderClan shore many tail-lengths away from his patrol that soon joined him. He dropped the thing and then let himself drop. Exhausted, he panted as he prodded the object with a paw. The brown, slightly leaf-like thing was soaking wet. A deep grey tom approached it first and sniffed it.

"It smells like twoleg rubbish," he meowed.

Lionclaw, still wet, stood up and shook himself. Then he too sniffed it, "I believe this is what the twolegs call a 'sack.'"

The smoke-coloured cat jumped back in surprise when the brown sack moved. Mudtail, a brown tabby she-cat, crept closer cautiously. Pawing at the twoleg sack nervously, she mewed, "Something's in here!"

Sure enough, the brown cloth wiggled and whined until a little ruddy head popped out. Mudtail grabbed its neck scruff and helped pull the little creature out. The young warrior shuddered as she saw there were other creatures inside the sack, although none of them stirred or breathed as she carried off the only lucky one.

"It's a dog!" meowed Lionclaw.

Silently, Mudtail began to lick the tiny pup in an attempt to get him dry. The grey tom hissed at her, "What are you doing? That's a dog!"

The she-cat paused, "It's just a kit, Stormheart, not even a day old. I think the twolegs abandoned it."

Stormheart huffed, "All the more reason to leave it here."

Mudtail licked the tiny pup, its fluffy brown-and-white fur still wet. Its eyes and floppy ears were shut tight still as it whined. The tabby she-cat curled herself around the pup to keep it warm. "If we leave it here it will surely die. Lionclaw, we have to do something. We can't just let it die," Mudtail insisted.

"No!" hissed Stormheart, not even letting the deputy speak, "If we bring back to camp, it'll destroy us all! Do you not remember how my ear was torn? I'll give you a hint, it wasn't an ill-tempered mouse!"

The she-cat went on licking the little dog, "Oh come on, Stormheart, it's just a little kit, and he's completely helpless now. We'd be as bad as the twolegs if we leave him out here to die like his littermates."

"It'll get bigger!" Stormheart hissed impatiently.

Lionclaw nodded, "That is true, Stormheart, but Mudtail has a point too. I suggest that we take the dog back to camp and let Ravenstar decide what to do with it."

Mudtail's eyes sparkled with gratitude as she scooped the pup by its scruff. Whining pup with them, the evening patrol headed back to the ThunderClan camp. The little pup's life was in the paws of their leader now.

The patrol soon returned to the camp, slinking through the thorn tunnel inside. Curious eyes, glowing in the twilight, starred at the young warrior carrying the small dog in her teeth. The patrol tried not to pay any attention to the murmurs and hostile hisses that met them. Fur bristling, Stormheart mewed softly half to himself, half to the group, "I knew we shouldn't have brought this thing back to camp."

If Lionclaw or Mudtail heard his comment, they showed no notice of it. Instead, the two tabbies went straight to the base of the Highrock, where the black-and-white leader sat sharing a thrush with one of the senior warriors. The leader immediately turned his green gaze onto the returning patrol, namely, the pup that hung in Mudtail's mouth. Taking a few steps towards them, he sniffed the scrap of fur, "What have we here?" he mewed to them.

"It's a dog, Ravenstar," Stormheart hissed before anyone else good say their opinion, "We should get rid of it before it makes prey of us all!" At the sound of the tom's hissing, a crowd of cats began to gather, curious of what their leader would have to say about the young mutt.

Lionclaw shouldered into the grey warrior to silence him, and then told the story of how he had retrieved a twoleg sack out of the river while on patrol near Sunning Rocks and how the pup was the only survivor inside the bag.

"We couldn't just let him die out there," Mudtail added, putting the pup down at her paws.

Ravenstar nodded, twitching the white tip of his tail, clearly thinking deeply about this. Green eyes fell upon the pup as he debated inwardly. Yowls and hisses of protest rang out from several of the cats.

"Get rid of it: it's a dog for StarClan's sake!"

"It won't be happy until it has spilled all our blood!"

"Throw it back into the river!"

Standing up on all four, the bi-coloured leader meowed loud enough to hush the crowd, "I will talk this over with my deputy and senior warriors." With a beckon of his tail, those summoned followed him into his den beneath the Highrock.

Mudtail bent down and licked the pup and wrapped herself around him again. "We need to get him some milk and shelter soon. He won't last much longer in this chill."

"I hope not," Stormheart hissed softly and padded off towards a group that would agree with him.

What seemed like moons later, Ravenstar appeared again and leaped onto the Highrock with one easy bound. The rest of his council took their seats among the rest of the clan. There was no need to call a clan meeting since all were already present. A hush fell upon the crowd as they waited in anticipation for the decision. "The dog will stay in ThunderClan if there is a queen willing to nurse him."

"I will take him," meowed a white queen sitting just outside the nursery. "I have plenty of milk since two of my other kits have already joined StarClan," she mewed softer; her mismatched eyes dull with grief.

Ravenstar nodded to his mate, "Thank you, Whiteflower." Then he meowed, "Then it is decided: the dog stays!"

The leader jumped off the Highrock, signaling the end of the meeting. Ignoring the hushed hisses at his decision, he returned to his den. Moonhigh had come and gone now, and most of the cats were too tired to argue vehemently. Mudtail scooped up the pup by his scruff and carried him to the nursery. As she approached the den, the tabby she-cat noticed some of the elders sharing tongues.

"I don't know what's becoming of ThunderClan, Tigerstripe," the tabby tom mewed loud enough to make sure that Mudtail heard, "It's just not the clan I remember as a kit. What will they let in next? A kittypet?"

Tigerstripe let out a _mrrow _of laughter at that ridiculous thought, "A kittypet in ThunderClan? That'll be the day!"

Mudtail felt her neck fur bristling as she entered the nursery. _This dog deserves to survive just as much as we do_, she thought. Placing him gently near Whiteflower's two black kits, the little dog wiggled his way to his new mother and drank greedily. The white queen purred, her motherly instinct causing her to already love the misfit. Mudtail purred softly as well; glad that the pup would survive. The brown she-cat mewed a "thank you" to the foster mother and padded towards the warrior's den. Curling up beside her brother Shrewnose, she fell asleep quickly wondering if the pup would ever be accepted in clan.


	4. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Leaf-bare's bitter hold gripped the Clan territories. The tree branches had traded in their leaves for a white blanket of snow and a cold, arctic wind howled most nights. Although this day was no warmer than the other days of leaf-bare, Dogkit felt that it was warmer and the sun brighter. Taking a few steps outside the nursery, he stopped to stretch over dramatically. He lifted his black nose skyward and took a deep breath of the crisp morning air, letting out a large cloud of breath once he exhaled. Admiring brown eyes watched as the dawn patrol returned to camp, reminding him that he was now six moons old. Soon, he thought, it would be his turn to become a warrior. His fluffy white tipped tail wagged furiously at the thought of beginning his apprentice ceremony.

His adopted siblings snapped him out of his thoughts as they scrambled out of the nursery, Moonkit leading the way. Moonkit's white paws sunk into the snow as she trudged her way to him. Her brother, Nightkit, deftly followed her exact trail by placing his black paws in her tracks. Having the two sit next to him made him realize he was larger than them. He had grown since he had been adopted by his clan. Now, he was about a mouse-length taller than his adopted littermates and maybe a mouse-length or two longer than they were as well.

"I'm so excited," Moonkit mewed, her icy blue eyes shining, "At moonhigh tonight, we'll be apprentices!"

Nightkit puffed out his chest proudly, "I'm going to be the greatest warrior ThunderClan has every seen! They'll be telling my story long after I've joined StarClan."

Dogkit grinned and wagged his tail, brushing the snow as it flew back-and-forth. "Me too!" he yipped happily.

"Ha! Keep dreaming, mouse brain," mewed a grey apprentice who had overheard the kits' conversation. He sat right in front of Dogkit and shot him a mocking smile. "You could never be ThunderClan warrior, let alone an apprentice. I mean, _come on_."

Dogkit's floppy ears flattened and he growled at the young tom, "I'm six moons old too, Windpaw. I have every right to become an apprentice! And then I'll be the greatest warrior in ThunderClan history! And then maybe I'll become clan leader! Then we'll see who's laughing."

Windpaw snorted in contempt, "Won't be you because you could never be a warrior."

Another apprentice trotted over to sit by Windpaw, a scoffing smile on her face. "Windpaw's right, Dogkit. You're not fit to be a real ThunderClan warrior. I mean, just look at you!"

Dogkit scowled and sighed, "Hello, Birchpaw."

Birchpaw circled him as if she were studying him. Dogkit watched the white-and-brown she-cat with an irritated gaze. After circling him a couple times, she stopped and snickered, "Look at your ears: they don't even look like a _real _warrior's," she cast out a white paw to whack them not so playfully, "I mean, they are just too floppy. How do you even hear?"

Moonkit jumped to her brother's defense. "He can hear just fine!" she hissed. She looked to Nightkit to back her up, but he seemed transfixed by the older apprentices.

Ignoring her, Birchpaw continued her verbal attack, "And that nose! It's far too long! Not even Shrewnose has a muzzle that long and pointy! And your claws! They don't sheath and unsheathe like a warrior's do. Look at them," she paused to point at one of the mutt's paws with one of her own, "Your claws are so dull from being unsheathed all the time that you'd barely be able to even nick an enemy warrior. " She sat down and sighed. "I'm sorry, Dogkit," she apologized insincerely, "I just don't think you could ever make a good warrior. Wouldn't you agree, Windpaw?"

Her companion let out an amused_ mrrow_, "Hedgehogs will fly before that becomes a warrior!" He gave a nasty smirk to the young pooch, "A kittypet will become clan leader before you could even _dream_ of being a warrior!"

Dogkit bit back an angry retort as Stormheart padded over to them. He gave Windpaw a cuff on his ear, "Come on," he growled to his apprentice, "You two are going to be late for training." He eyed Birchpaw, "I believe Redpelt is waiting for you in the Sandy Hollow." He shifted pale green gaze back to Windpaw, "You and I are on hunting patrol, let's go." The grey tom turned and stalked away, the two apprentices following him. Before the left through the thorn tunnel, Windpaw turned back to give Dogkit one final sneer then dashed out of sight.

Moonkit snorted, "Good riddance." She then turned to Dogkit, "Don't listen to them; they must have their pelts on too tight. Why don't we go see if the elders will tell us a story?" Moonkit smiled, and led the way, Nightkit right behind her, his gaze turning hungrily towards the thorn tunnel.

Dogkit took a few steps forward, and then stopped. "You two go ahead," he called, "I'll catch up." He turned around and went over to join Whiteflower near the nursery. The snow white queen was grooming herself leisurely after having a piece of fresh-kill. Trotting up and sitting next to her, he asked his foster mother, "Am I different?"

"Hm?" Whiteflower grunted, blinking out of her relaxed state. She paused and hesitated for a few heartbeats and Dogkit wondered if she thought he was an unfit warrior too. "Well," she mewed slowly, "We're all different."

Dogkit sighed. It seemed as if she were just saying that to avoid hurting his already wounded feelings. "I don't think I'll ever become a warrior," he whimpered.

Whiteflower blinked at him, her bi-coloured eyes filled with confusion. "What makes you say that? I thought you were excited to become an apprentice."

He looked up forlornly, "I was. But then Windpaw and Birchpaw said I could never be a real warrior. They say my nose is too long and my ears are floppy and my claws too dull."

The queen gazed down lovingly at him and began to lick his head comfortingly. "Well," she mewed, "It is true that you are built differently from us." Dogkit let out a whine, but Whiteflower covered his mouth with tail to silence him. "Let me finish. You're built different because you're a dog and not a cat. But because you're built differently doesn't mean you're bad. You know, many thought I could never become a warrior either."

Dogkit gasped, his deep brown eyes filled with shock, "Why not?"

Whiteflower stopped her licking and mewed, "You see, I'm deaf in this ear." She flicked the ear on the side of her blue eye. "White cats with blue eyes are often born deaf and since only one of my eyes is blue, I'm only half-deaf."

"But Snowstorm is white with blue eyes," Dogkit stammered, pointing his muzzle to the medicine cat's den. "She isn't deaf."

"Not all of them are born deaf," the queen nodded, "My sister was lucky. I had to work twice has hard to prove that I had what it takes to be a warrior, and that's what you'll have to do too."

"I'll be the hardest working apprentice ThunderClan has ever seen!" Dogkit wagged his tail and puffed out his chest.

"Good," Whiteflower smiled and nodded, "Now, go run along and have fun. And remember, your apprentice ceremony is at moonhigh!"

Dogkit bounced away towards the elder's den, eager for evening to come. He would show whose fit to become a warrior. _Just you wait_, he thought as he rejoined his littermates,_ I'll be the best ThunderClan warrior ever!_


End file.
